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HB3 - President George Washington
Memorial Box
1st President of the United States of America
April 30, 1789 to March 4, 1797
The General
The Statesman
Born:
February 22, 1732
Died:
December 14, 1799
General George Washington at the Battle of Princeton.
Painted by Charles Willson Peale.
General George Washington taking the Salute at Trenton on his favorite mount Blueskin.
Painted by John Faed.
The
George Washington
Memorial Box
Early Life and Mount Vernon
Born at Popes Creek, Virginia Colony, British America, to wealthy planter parents Augustine Washington and his second wife
Mary Ball-Washington. George was the first of six children. Washington also had four older half siblings by his father and his first wife, Jane Butler. When his father Augustine died at the age of 48 on April 12, 1743, George inherited the family farm called Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg, Virginia, on the Rappahannock River along with ten slaves. His half-brother, Lawrence, inherited Little Hunting Creek and renamed it Mount Vernon, as we know it today. George would visit his brother and sister-in-law at Mount Vernon on many occasions. His brother's father-in-law, William Fairfax, owned a large plantation near Mount Vernon named Belvoir which George also frequented often. William Fairfax became Washington's patron and surrogate father, and Washington spent a month in 1748 with a team surveying Fairfax's Shenandoah Valley property. In the following year at the age of 17, Washington received a surveyor's license from the College of William & Mary. This was George Washington's first profession before his military commission service began in the Virginia militia.
In 1752 his brother, Lawrence, died and George leased Mount Vernon from his sister-in-law. In 1759, George would marry Martha Dandridge making her his wife and they resided at Mount Vernon. In 1761, he inherited the plantation outright after his half-brother's widow Anne's death. Mount Vernon will be the final resting place for many generations of the Washington family in the family crypt on the grounds.
Mount Vernon
The Washington Family Crypt - Mount Vernon
George Washington's
Vault
George & Martha Washington
Vaults
The Memorial Box
Artifacts outside of the box
200th annaversary
of
Washington's Birth
Early Washington
Bookend Bust
Detail View
Gold locket of Washington's hair with the display case to house locket.
Relic Lock of Hair from
George Washington
The spotlight of the collection is an antique solid gold locket with strands of hair and portrait bust of
George Washington.
Close up view of the locket closed
Brick Fragment from the
Washington Family Cript
Display Case
Fraternal
Sword
& Flag
Life / Death
Mask
Below: Box opened showing other artifacts.
Left and Right: Antique American flag and 1800's secret fraternal sword with a pommel bust of Washington.
Early 20th Century Bronze Bust of Washington based on sculptor
Jean-Antoine Houdon Statue
Close-up view of hilt and guard
Close-up view of 1800s transfer on porcelain of the
Washington Family crypt.
Mid 1800s paper cut-out silhouette of George Washington in a period black wood mourning frame.
Close-up of cut-out silhouette.
Left and Right:
These two pictures show the contents of the lower drawer. The first item is a certified new flag that was flown over the estate and the Washington crypt. The second item is a brass script cypher for George Washington. The last item is a early 20th century aluminum wall plaque with the bust of Washington.
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